There’s no denying Seattle is a famously bookish place, recognized internationally for its love of literature. Such a metropolis completely deserves a world class library system. And that, we’ve got.
The query earlier than voters in August will likely be how a lot they’re prepared to pay to help it as a result of town stopped absolutely funding its libraries in 2012. Since then, taxpayers have shouldered roughly a 3rd of library operations by levies, which have quadrupled within the final 14 years.
Broadly talking, this coverage change places the library in a tough spot. However the present Metropolis Council has not helped issues. Its irresponsible spending habits have introduced Seattle to a deeply uncomfortable place.
Right here’s the scenario: The upcoming poll will ask voters to approve $479 million for the Seattle Public Library system, to assist cowl expanded hours, improved and digitized collections, up to date expertise and cybersecurity, and upkeep — together with seismic retrofitting for neighborhood branches, a few of that are 100 years previous.
Worthy expenditures, all. If voters approve this quantity, the proprietor of a house assessed at Seattle’s median of $872,000 would pay $193 in annual property taxes for this levy.
However it’s not that easy.
There are necessary elements to contemplate, past the desirability of bolstered library providers or whether or not a further $193 is inside your finances. Specifically, if this levy passes as proposed, it’s going to depart town with severely curtailed talents to ask voters for another funding — at the same time as further priorities loom, like enhancements to the Seattle Middle and Pike Place Market.
A little bit of backstory: The $479 million library levy on August’s poll is greater than double the $219 million authorised by voters seven years in the past — though the inflation charge since 2019 has not doubled (it’s up by 31%).
The levy can be considerably bigger than an earlier model, for $410 million, proposed by Mayor Katie Wilson, which included cash to offset inflation and library funding cuts within the metropolis’s finances, in addition to additional for retrofitting the Columbia Metropolis department.
That was not sufficient for Metropolis Council members. They wished cash added in for specialists who can refer patrons to social providers; improved elevator entry; extra e- and audio books; and seismic repairs at a number of branches. That want record ballooned the levy by one other $69 million.
Voters listed here are beneficiant. Within the final three years they’ve authorised the most important property tax will increase within the metropolis’s historical past, funding schooling, transportation and housing. However it’s truthful to ask, how rather more can they take?
Not less than as necessary: How a lot do they wish to hamper town’s capability to boost cash for future priorities? At the moment, the overall property tax hit for Seattle residents is $3.02 per $1,000 of a house’s assessed worth. If the library levy passes as proposed, it will deliver that charge as much as $3.14 per $1,000. Legally, town can not go above $3.60, in order that doesn’t depart a lot wiggle room.
This editorial board treasures libraries. We additionally concern portray town into an not possible nook. With each elements in thoughts, we can not endorse this model of the library levy. Voters might make a distinct selection.
If voters flip it down, the Metropolis Council may put the extra frugal, $410 million plan on the poll early subsequent yr. That feels applicable for these occasions, when affordability is the watchword for normal people and for cities, too.
